With the advent of high technology needs and market deregulation, today's energy market has become very dynamic. High technology industries have increased their demands on the electrical power supplier, requiring more power, increased reliability and lower costs. A typical computer data center may use 100 to 300 watts of power per square foot compared to an average of 15 watts per square foot for a typical commercial building. Further, an electrical outage, whether it is a complete loss of power or simply a drop in the delivered voltage, can cost these companies millions of dollars in down time and lost business.
In addition, deregulation of the energy industry is allowing both industrial and individual consumers the unprecedented capability to choose their supplier which is fostering a competitive supply/demand driven market in what was once a traditionally monopolistic industry.
The requirements of increased demand and higher reliability are burdening an already overtaxed distribution network and forcing utilities to invest in infrastructure improvements at a time when the deregulated competitive market is forcing them to cut costs and lower prices. Further, consumers of electrical power are increasingly monitoring and managing their own consumption in an effort to reduce costs and utilize their energy resources in the most efficient manner.
In order to meet these needs, both suppliers and consumers are installing ever larger numbers of Intelligent Electronic Devices (“IED”) throughout their facilities and energy distribution networks. IED's are intelligent power management devices designed to measure, manage and control the distribution and consumption of electrical power. One particular consumer or supplier may have hundreds or even thousands of IED's in place throughout their facilities (which may consist of multiple installations located in many disparate geographic locales) to manage their energy resources, with many more spare IED's in inventory as backups. Typically, these IED's are highly configured and tailored/customized to the specific applications and requirements of that consumer or supplier.
As the consumer or supplier updates or expands their operations, they must often order new or updated IED's either to replace outdated or broken devices or to meet the needs of their expansion. Typically, they will order generic devices from the manufacturer and configure them on-site prior to installation, for example, in an on-site “meter shop.” For large numbers of IED's, this can be a very tedious, time consuming and resource intensive, i.e. expensive, process, requiring highly skilled personnel. Especially if the consumer or supplier runs an expansive operation and/or fails to keep track of the different IED configurations that they already have in place.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for ordering IED's from a manufacturer that, when delivered to the electrical energy consumer or supplier, are fully configured to that customer's specific needs and ready for installation “out of the box.”